Adventure in the Land of Sand
Cairo, Kingdom of the Desert The sand gleamed in the sun as if gold, beckoning travelers from all over the world as if it was a treasure trove of riches galore. In fact, many times in the past, when humans were a less intelligible race, the island of Cairo had been mistaken for such a thing, wealth floating in the ocean waiting for a man brave enough to collect and naturally they came, and their ancestors make up the islands residents today. Now it is no different, travelers, pirates, thieves, they call come in search of the same thing but if they find it... well, that is up to fate. Avery looked through his telescope. "I can see it!" he called excitedly. "Land ho!" He jumped from the helm of the deck down to the main floor, running to the edge of the ship. "There it is! Cairo!" "Is it really worth getting so worked up over?" asked Shephard. "It's just a big desert." "Just a big desert?" Avery was aghast. "My dear Shephard, it's not just a big desert. Cairo is a kingdom. And kingdoms are where pirates can get the most loot and notoriety!" "Sure, whatever." Looking brazenly upon the forthcoming Island, Seizawa let out a bored yawn as he slumped lazily against the ship's railing. Turning to his captain he grumbled a bit having been forced to awake from his slumber. "What's our reason for coming to this specific island Again?" Seizawa questioned as he pulled himself up. “You mean other than restocking our supplies, possibly recruiting more crew members to replace the ones we lost, or simply because our Log Pose is pointing towards Cairo? No reason.” Grumbling under his breath about it being too early for this, Seizawa properly dropped to the floor and fell back to sleep deeming this next few moments unimportant. As the ship closed in on the shore, it rumbled. "What do you mean there's no port?" The ship rumbled again. "Well that's weird. No towns on the shoreline either?" Another rumble. "Well, just get us as close as you can." One more rumble. "Don't worry, I won't be leaving you alone this time." Avery walked over to Arukana and tapped him on the shoulder. "Do you think you can start on those modifications I talked about?" Glancing over his shoulder to look at his captain, Arukana took a drag of his cigarette before flicking it off the side of the ship and responded with a nod. "Despite how insane they are, I can get to work on the modifications as soon as possible. "Excellent! Well, you won't be alone. Seizawa will be here to help with the construction. If you need any extra supplies to finish anything up, don't hesitate to call us on the Den Den Mushi, we'll make sure to pick it up for you." He addressed his crew. "Yo, Shep, Set, we're moving out!" "Aye-Aye Sir!" Seth walked onto the main deck from a room to the back of the ship, a radiant purple tuxedo-like ensemble on, shimmering under the day's sun as she dusted himself off and walked to the side of his captain. " Just a thought, but I doubt an island with no port is gonna be very...welcoming. We may wanna be careful." Seth commented, now standing alongside his captain. “Oh Set,” said Avery, when am I not careful?” Shephard rolled her eyes as she followed them off the ship. "Judging from the landscape, this might take a while," Avery addressed Arukana. "If we're not back in two days, if something goes wrong, or if you just wanna talk, call us on the Den Den Mushi." Avery jumped off the ship, a small cloud of dust being kicked up from the surprisingly dry sand. It wasn't so much a beach, as the ground was elevated too far to touch the ocean. "Alright guys, let's head out!" Shephard was the next to disembark, still wearing her regular suit, despite the high temperatures. She gave Seizawa a brief wave before jumping off herself. Gazing at the sky, Yoichi found herself lost in thought. Strangely enough, she was completely sober, and had been for a while. Not even the usual gourd was hanging from her hip. Even though they were close, the loud voice of Avery and Sheppard seemed quite distant. She gripped her abdomen, and hid in her pocket what seemed to be a piece of paper. Shaking her head, she then slapped herself lightly, in order to gather her senses. She grabbed her quiver and bow, and made way to the edge of the ship, where she glanced at her captain who had been complaining. “You always have to make a ruckus, Avery. We can’t land in peace for once,” she said, chuckling at her crew’s usual antics. Yoichi jumped overboard and into the sand. As the hot breeze grazed her body, she removed the top part of her kimono, leaving it hanging on her waist. “If you guys weren’t such pervs, I’d gladly explore this desert completely topless”. Her skin was radiant as a few drops of sweat began to be released from her body. “Lead the way, captain.” ---- "It's so... hot!" Avery complained as he trudged through the sand. The sun beat down on the flat, bleached land as he walked behind his crew. "What the hell! Why is it so hot!" "We're in a desert Avery," said Shephard. "I mean other than that! Not all deserts are hot!" Shephard rolled her eyes as they continued their trek through the desert. Yoichi looked around, and she knew, not her nor any of her crewmates had any idea where they were headed. "Sigh...you know, this is a recipe for disaster. Wandering around aimlessly through a desert. For all we know there could be nothing on this island. We'd be walking until we die of thirst or heat..." She reached for her hip, but then remembered, she left her gourd back at the ship. Avery walked up next to Yoichi, panting as he put his arm on her shoulder. "Hey," he spoke in a hushed tone, "you've been drinking a lot less than normal, ever since the Marin battle. Are you alright?" Yoichi looked away from Avery, not wanting her eyes to reveal what she truly felt. "Yes, I'm fine. Just wanting to detox myself for a while, that's all." She gripped her pocket and continued forward, wiping some sweat from her chest and face. "Alright," said Avery, "just know, that I'm here for you if you need anything. I'm your captain after all." He took his hand off his shoulder as he tilted his head towards the sky. "It's so hot!" Yoichi nodded, and followed Avery's glance at the sky. She grunted in annoyance. "uuhg...I'm sick of just wandering around in this stupid desert! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHGG!!!!" Yoichi screeched, her voice resounding in various pitches, as if it were varios people screaming with the strength of thunder, and with the use of her devil fruit powers, the sand trembled, the winds shifted under the power of her voice. It seemed she had screeched in anger, however, she was actually using echolocation, in order to determine whether there was something alive in the endless desert. Her eyes widened. "Umm..Captain...we got some company." "What do you mean?" As if on cue, something erupted from the desert sands. It was large, with a grey backside and white underbelly, rows of razor-sharp teeth, black, soulless eyes, and a fin on its back. Overall it was fish-shaped, but it couldn't have been an actual fish. Just as soon as they had taken stock of the creature, it dove back into the sands. "Um... what the hell was that?" "What was what? I wasn't looking..." responded Yoichi, confused, which was strange, given she had just detected the thing's presence and warned them about it. She looked blankly into the horizon, searching for something that wasn't there. The sand beneath Yoichi began to tremble. What appeared to be a pair of jaws came out of the sand beneath her. "Yo move!" But it was too late. The creature began to fly out of the ground, Yoichi within its jaws. "Nagareru Kawa!" In a swift motion, the head of the beast was cut off, blood spurting into the sand. The bandages wrapped back around Shephard's sword as she held back down near her hip. "Wow..." said Avery, "Good work, Shep." "Welp...that was short-lived." Seth remarked, his clothes flaring through the wind, seemingly made of a free-flowing and aerated fabric, perfect for the desert. "This heat is not that bad, good for the skin." Seth said, looking up at the sun with his hand above his eyes. The ground beneath them began to rumble. The fins of more the creatures poking through the sand. One's head popped out, sinking its teeth into the dead shark right next to them. At that point they finally got a good look at the creatures. "Yep," said Avery, "that's a shark." "Oh, there's more. I'll make quick work of 'em." Seth responded, reaching deep into his pocket to reveal a small pocket harmonica. He pressed it to his lips and began to ring out some notes, dragging the sharks from the sand to the air, exposing them completely. "Now for the finale." Seth spoke, running his lips across the harmonica and swiftly playing each not it carried, ripping the sharks to shreds in an instant. "And that's two sharks, one harmonica." Seth chanted, tucking the instrument back into his pocket with a small laugh at his joke. As the blood and gore rained down upon the crew, More fins began to extend from the sand. "Alright," said Avery, "maybe we should determine a less gory method of dispatching these sharks." One flew out of sand, leaping straight for him. He punched it right in the nose. It went limp as it fell back into the sand. Three more sharks closed in from behind, as Yoichi landed after the shark that aimed at her was dispatched quickly by Shepphard. "No can do, captain." Drawing her bow and an arrow, she shot forward. Whistling at a certain frequency, the arrow suddenly made a quick turn with impressive speed, speeding past her crewmates and her, and sinking into the sand. The sharks suddenly stopped on their tracks, and the arrow emerged once more, landing once again on her quicker. "Well, that was a bit less messy..." Shephard sliced the fin off of one shark, followed by the decapitation of another. But the more sharks the group killed, the more that showed up. Avery seemed to be attracting the least sharks, his punches only serving to damage them internally as opposed to bringing the blood to the surface. "Seriously guys, we may need to exterminate this species if we keep this up!" "They're like stink bugs, attracted to the scent of their dead friends. But, as most know, the best way to kill them, is to flush 'em." Seth remarked, clearing his throat deeply as a dozen sharks surrounded him. Seth began to hum deeply, a large vacuum appearing below him, the sharks being sucked deep in the sand, crushed under the mass of the grainy substance, bludgeoning them as they were sucked deeper and deeper as Seth floated above it. Soon Seth halted in his song abruptly, sealing the hole in the sand, burying the sharks deep below him. He dusted his hands together and pressed his feet back into the ground. "We need to find a way to stop them all at once, because this isn't working." Seth mentioned, addressing his crewmates. During a brief moment of reprieve, before even more sharks arrived, Avery noticed something. While Yoichi attacked, her whistling manipulating her arrows, the sharks seemed to avoid her, swimming around her, but not attacking. "Yo, I'm going to need you to scream!" Yoichi understood immediately what the captain’s intentions were. However, she figured some regular, loud screech wouldn’t do the trick, and would surely harm her crewmates’s eardrums. So instead of warning them to cover their ears, Youchi inhaled, and opened her mouth, letting out her power. Strangely, nothing was heard, at least, nothing any humanoid would be able to register within their frequency hearing range. The muscles on her neck were tensing, meaning that Yoichi was actually screeching, yet the frequency she was releasing was so high only animals and other creatures would be able to hear it, and in the land shark’s case, would probably force them to flee far from the sound wave’s range. Almost as fast as they had come, they fled, the fins of the sharks sinking beneath the sand's surface. The dunes rippled as the sharks swam underneath them, going as far away from the source of the terrible noise as possible. Avery smiled, walking up to Yoichi and clapping her on the shoulder. "Good work, Yo! It's great to have you aboard. Now, this may involve some finer control, but do you think you could bring a few of them back?" Yoichi glared at her captain, “Tch! Seriously?! Man you’re...whatever.” She grinned. “Suuree...” she chuckled softly. She pondered for a moment, wondering if her ability would work for such a feat. Inhaling deeply, she released a soft hum, combined with a whistling sound, barely audible, yet soothing for those nearby. Some of the shark fins that had left returned shortly after, and began circling around them, three of them to be exact, until they finally stopped, rising their bodies from the sand just enough so the pirates could sit atop. “Ha!! I didn’t think I could pull it off! Guess that makes me Yoichi the beast tamer, Sniper...Queen!...” she exclaimed awkwardly. “Hop on! But careful, they bite.” She said jokingly. "You never cease to amaze me." He hopped onto one of the shark's backs, hoping to ride on the same one as Yoichi. Shephard rolled her eyes as she moved onto another shark. "I suppose I don't have to ask why you thought it would be a good idea to bring the sharks back now." "That would be correct," said Avery, "especially since it was an excellent idea!" "You guys always seem to forget I don't exactly need a ride. But, since you went through the trouble of hailing one over, I can make it work." Seth hopped up off the ground and gracefully landed atop one of the sand sharks, giving him a pat on the head followed by a soft rub. He leaned back on the creature, getting comfortable as he pulled an ocarina from his pocket, calmly beginning to blow a beautiful tune, one perfectly suited for a desert adventure. Moments into the tune the sand began to rise from the ground, lifting the shark along with it, creating a floating pool of sand for the shark to freely swim within in the sky, similar to the lakes and seas in Skypeia. "Ready whenever you guys are." Seth remarked before going back to his calm desert tune. "Show off," Avery scoffed. And they road the sharks into the sunset. Campfire It wasn't hard getting the small amount of wood they had managed to gather to burn, illuminating the cold, desert night. Just outside of the camp, the land sharks stayed within the dunes. "We should take these things back with us when we get back to the ship," said Avery, "they'd make intimidating steeds." He patted the shark nearest to him on the head. Youchi nodded, as she took a bite of a roasted desert scorpion they had just cooked. “The one we rode seems to like you, captain....hmmm” She pondered, as she gulped her meal. “We need one more.” She said, “I’m gonna name them, “Eenie, Meenie, Miney” so we just need “Mo!” She exclaimed jokingly, albeit in a somewhat serious manner. "That's absolutely ridiculous," said Shephard, taking a bite out of her own scorpion. "Do you always have to be such a buzzkill, Shep?" asked Avery. "Yes." “She’s colder than the desert nights.” Yoichi said disappointed, as she covered her upper body tightly in her kimono. She squirmed closer to the fire, trying to hog all the heat for herself. "Zzzzz" Seth lowly bellowed, even his snores sounded slightly graceful as he fell asleep, using his sand shark as a pillow, resting upon a small blanket over the sand, dreaming of things only he would know. "I think we should follow Seth's lead," said Shephard as she laid down on her own blanket. She closed her eyes and was quickly asleep. Avery scooted over to Yoichi as she stayed next to the campfire. "Now that everyone's asleep, wanna talk about it?" Yoichi’s body slightly twitched as her captain came closer. Her eyes looked down on the flames, as if her thoughts drifted away with the heat. She looked away, and gripped her pocket, trying as best to hide it from Avery. “Mmm...I-“ she sighed. “It’s fine, I’m okay...I’m more than okay!” She smiled slightly, though not honestly. “In fact, I’m even sober! Isn’t...that, fine?” She said, almost as if those words were directed to herself. Avery squinted as he more closely examined her under the fire’s glow. “I never took you for the kind to drink because you were sad or anything, just cause you liked it, and that it also made your aim better.” The young woman smirked slightly. “You know, it’s funny...I was a horrible markswoman.” She glanced at the night sky. “When the tribe took me in, they tried to teach me their ways, and train me. But...I was too traumatized. Something had happened that haunted my mind. And one day, a few years later, I accidentally took a sip of rum, and everything I’ve been taught came naturally, I fought as if I had been training for years, and I never missed a shot with my bow and arrows...” Yoichi lowered her gaze, staring back at the fire. “Shortly before I met you guys, I remembered it all. The events that happened to me, which caused that trauma, well, not all...” she bit her lip, “I just remembered a few things, and besides taking care of that Sinclair fellow, I went to sea in search of answers...” Avery was a little taken aback. He didn’t quite expect her to be so open with him, likely needing some coaxing first. “What did Sinclair do you to your that made you want to kill him anyways?” "Damn, they make it so hard to pretend to be asleep" Seth thought to himself as he continued to snore aloud, listening in on his crewmates conversations, waiting for something more juicy to come up or the perfect time to interrupt. “He...” Yoichi began. “H-He is more than a multi-millionaire businessman. People love him for his acts of charity, and his strength. He has defeated criminals and used their bounty rewards to help people in need. But...” she began to shudder. “Public bounty hunting is not all he does...” She scoffed, annoyed at herself at not bringing alcohol with her. “He tends to go to more extreme measures sometimes. He dons a simple disguise, covering his face with a scarf, which is how people began to call him...in West Blue, stories of “the scarf” are akin to those of the boogeyman. And it had reached us all the way to North Blue, as well...” Yoichi clenched her fists very tightly in frustration. “Turns out, I was blind to my people’s truth. The tribe that picked me up and raised me, they smuggled slaves and drugs. That’s...that’s what they were training me for, to become a mercenary for hire, and enter their underground business. They were quite good, until...the scarf paid us a visit one night...tch!” She looked straight at Avery’s eyes, and before he could speak, she continued. “Turns out annihilating a whole tribe wasn’t his only goal that night. He was searching for his older sister’s lost daughter...” She stared at Avery. “Me... And it was then, that I began to recall my past, my mother’s face, and that I had a brother...a twin brother, until that fateful night, 12 years ago.” Yoichi looked away, noticing, though not caring that Seth was slightly awake. “An accident at sea...separated me from my family, made me lose my memories, and now, it made me hate...my uncle.” Avery leaned forward, resting his chin in his hands. "Family's a pain, huh? Remember my brother?" Tearing out a section of his torso was still a fresh memory. Sometimes he wondered if he had survived their encounter. Most of the other marines hadn't. "Must've been pretty hard on you, even if you realized you were just being used, they were still your family. Or am I misreading this?" Youchi shook her head. “No, you’re right. They raised me, fed me and took care of me as one of their own. This...darker aide of theirs, was all but hidden from me, until, I guess until they felt I was grown enough to understand. And...HE crushed it all.” Sad and painful memories began to flood her mind, the people that raised her for more than 10 years, lying around her, dismembered and in piles pf blood. “That man...killed them all, ripped them apart, with his bare hands.” “So yeah,” she continued. “Family’s a pain. But...” she slid her hand in her pocket. “There’s one thing about family I still want to keep. You see, when I remembered everything, I remembered my mom’s surname, Donatelli, and also, I remembered my own, the one we received from our father, who...we never met.” She pulled out what seemed to be a folded, brown piece of paper. She began to unfold it before Avery’s very eyes. “Turns out my twin brother, he’s alive.” She then gave the fully opened piece of paper to Avery, for him to read. It was, out of all things, a wanted poster. A young man with a sizable bounty on his head. “That’s him. My twin brother. Draco D. Zephyr, wanted for 210,000,000...” Yoichi then looked away, “I assume you can guess what that means, and what my true, full name is...” “Draco D. Yoichi?” Avery asked. He clearly didn’t know the importance of any part of her full name. Yoichi blinked. She knew her captain had been paying close attention, but of course, she should’ve known better. He was completely oblivious to what having that name meant, or the powerful figures it connected her to. “Shraahahahahahaha!!!” She almost fell back as she tried to contain her laughter. It seems Avery’s simple mindedness had caused her to change mood. She wiped some tears from her eyes, trying to keep her voice down to not wake the rest of the crew. “Oi cap’n...thanks.” She muttered in a shy tone, extending her arms in front of her to get closer to the fire. "You're welcome," said Avery, giving a brief shrug. "Anyways, if you're still feeling down, or even if you feel a little better, then I've got a little something for you." He reached into his knapsack, pulling out a bottle rum. "I'll give this to you, but on one condition." “Ooh!” Yoichi’s eyes flared with excitement. She extended her hand, and tilted her head to the side. Raising an eyebrow, she questioned Avery’s condition. “Ooh? This is unusual...and what would that be?” She said in a curious tone. Though, her demeanor and aura felt quite different, indeed, it felt as if the old Yoichi had returned. Avery grinned a devilish grin. "Well you see, I'm not a big fan of alcohol, especially the smell. I'm afraid I'll never get the chance to do this again while you're sober. In exchange for this bottle of rum, I would like a kiss." “''Now this I wanna see''.” Seth thought you himself, ever so slightly cracking one of his eyes to see the pair sitting together beside the fire, a bottle of rum and air the only thing between them as Seth awaited Yoichi’s reaction to such a request. Yoichi was taken aback. “Pfft! Come one, you can’t-...ohh” She noticed Avery’s determined face. “You’re serious...” Yoichi looked away slightly, and fiddled with her hair, as she pondered for a second. She looked around at her sleeping crewmates. “Hmm...I guess it couldn’t hurt.” She slid her body closer to Avery’s, looking her captain straight in the eyes. Her eyes briefly looked elsewhere, but once again focused on him as she leaned closer, very close. As she was mere inches from his face, the warmth of their bodies could be felt between them, her lips were about to meet his... Her head then took a slight turn, her face briefly touching Avery’s cheek, as she kept passing by, her whole body followed, landing on the sand beside them...Yoichi fell asleep. "Oh shit, did she faint?!" Seth said, jumping from his sleep to see Yoichi laid in the sand and Avery set alone after the kiss. Seth then realized he'd blown his cover and Avery would now know he'd been awake the whole time, Seth did the only thing he could think to do. "This is all a dream...not the kiss, just me, you actually fainted too, and when I fall asleep. you'll wake back up...sitting completely upright...Yup." Seth said awkwardly as he leaned back into his fake sleep, pretending to sleep, immediately snoring as a bead of sweat fell from his forehead. "Did I play that off well? Yes, yes I did. You've done well Seth. Now time for actual sleep..." Seth thought to himself, now drifting off into real sleep, leaving Avery alone and awake Avery sighed. “Welp, that was fun.” He laid onto the ground falling to himself. As the pirates and their sharks rested, Shephard sat up, looking at the members of the crew. “''Well that was weird.''” She laid back down and went to sleep, for real this time. Oasis The crew road on their new sharks, Avery’s arms wrapped around Yoichi as she commanded their steed. When he had awoken, the bottle of rum was already empty, which could only mean one thing... “You smell of alcohol. Welcome back!” “Hic!” Yoichi looked back at Avery, squinting her eyes at his arms wrapped around her. Her cheeks were red, signifying she had indeed been drinking. Her body was groggy, waving from side to side. She then looked down, “oh shit! This a fucking shark with legs!” "Nice to have you back," said Avery, lightly patting her on the head. "Captain!" called Shephard, "I think I see something up ahead!" Avery squinted. At least from this distance, it looked like a palm tree and a pond. "Thank god!" Avery cried. "Yo, get the sharks to go full speed that way!" "Aye Aye, Sir!" Seth exclaimed, soaring through the air on the back of his shark, cutting through the sand that floated around them. He sped past the group, swiftly approaching the tree and pond. “Eeey!” Yoichi straightened herself, squinting her eyes at Seth. “Hic!” She let out a whistle, resonating in two different frequencies, one meant two agitate Seth’s shark and, hopefully, have it teach Seth a little lesson. Yoichi didn’t hate Seth, she just, hates to lose. She commanded the shark she and Avery was on to hurry, hoping to rush in and get there first, just some friendly competition. Not long ago she was brought aboard a ship with two weirdos, now...there are a bunch of em’, and it has been fun, she has managed to push her dark goals to the back of her mind, for now, at least. Not much longer afterwards, the four pirates arrived at the oasis. Avery immediately ran towards the pond, dunking his head underneath as he began drinking the water. He only pulled his head out so that he could breath. “Well that’s odd. The water’s sweet.” Yoichi didn’t bother responding to her captain, she just walked towards the pond, but fell before reaching, her head being the only thing that went directly towards the water. “Splush!!” A sudden rumble rippled the water, as Yoichi suddenly was pushed to a standing position, using her powers to make herself stand straight, being too lazy to use her body. “Aaah...refre-“ “THUD!” She fell backwards. Avery laugh, almost forgetting about the strange taste of the water. It was rather tasty, but it certainly didn't taste like water. It didn't smell like water either. He took another sip. "Is there something wrong captain?" asked Shephard. "Yeah, taste this." Shephard scooped some of the water into her hand, drinking it herself. It was undeniably sweet. She took another drink. "Why is so sweet? If anything, it should be brackish." "It's so weird, isn't it?" He took another sip. "Maybe we should drink all of it." Shephard took another sip. "I concur." “I’ll leave this one to you guys, not too keen on drinking sweet liquids from the ground.” Seth remarked, reaching into one of his larger pockets, revealing a small canteen, taking a deep swing of it, having had water the entire time, surely to the crews confusion. Shephard and Avery practically ignored Seth as they engorged themselves on this sweet, sweet fluid. They were almost drowning themselves, with their heads stuck underneath the pond. “Eeeh!” Said Yoichi as she wiped her face and sat on the sand. “Not my type of sweet liquid either.” She juggled her empty gourd. “I prefer something with more “kick”...” She then walked over to the land shark, and began poking it with her bow. She was drunk as hell. The sand around the oasis began to shift, as if a miniature earthquake had just struck. Avery and Shephard seemed blissfully unaware as they continued drinking the strange water. "Haaa!! Iu mooourouuns!" Exclaimed a drunk, groggy Yoichi as she stopped poking the annoyed shark. she had somehow found and drank a small bottle of rum, probably she had it hidden in her robes and didn't realize until now, which made her extremely drunk, much worse than she was. "Stooooopiiiit! Hic! I-I think tha' deser'tts moounnsterr p-p-piiiiisssssss!!" She then began running frantically in a circle. "Hic! Hic! Stooopiiit you igiodds(idiots)! yur angurr da' deselt gooooodts!" "The hell?" Seth hopped up from his toes, beginning to float on the air as the oasis before him rumbled. He looked around as nobody noticed, Yoichi drunk off her ass and Avery and Shephard filling their throats, so it was up to him to ensure their safety. Seth began to whistle a high tune, a sweet tune, almost symbolic of the sweet dews that distracted Avery and Shephard and disabilities Yoichi. As he whistled the ground rumbled, even more, the island being ripped from the sand, the sharks scurrying onto the island, swimming in the layer of sand around it as it rose into the air above the ground, hopefully halting the rumbling and allowing them a new form of mobility. As the pirates and their steeds rose higher and higher, the source of the rumbling revealed itself. A giant sand worm breached from sweet water oasis, its jaws just narrowly missing Avery's feet as he screamed loudly. "What the hell is that!" Avery shouted as the worm sank back into its hiding place. "Well," said Shephard, "I think we know why the water was so sweet now..." Category:Role-Plays Category:Finished Role-Plays